- Grief support
- Intimacy issues
- Self esteem work
About Bella
Bella Lurie is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT, practicing in California with six years of clinical experience. She works with grief, intimacy-related issues, self-esteem, career concerns, and ADHD. She also focuses on themes such as abandonment, attachment issues, adoption and foster care, and caregiver stress.
Bella uses language and narrative as tools in therapy. She invites people to notice how words shape meaning and feeling. That can help when shame or guilt has become a repeated story someone tells about themselves.
Her work draws on positive psychology ideas and practices she calls Wake Dreaming. This approach looks at how language, symbols, and personal myth shape waking life and sleep life. Sessions may involve attending to how phrases, memories, and images appear and change over time.
People who value curiosity about language and inner story often find this useful. Bella encourages experimentation with speech and with ways of describing events. That can make it easier to tolerate uncertainty and to try different ways of talking about painful topics.
In sessions she pays attention to real-life problems like chronic illness, caregiving strain, communication problems, and the effects of trauma or loss. She helps people sort through practical decisions about relationships, work, and day-to-day coping while also noticing the deeper narratives that keep guilt or shame alive.
How her approaches translate to online work
Wake Dreaming is presented as a practice that pays close attention to language and personal myth. In online sessions this looks like noticing the words a person uses, the images they bring, and patterns in how they describe events. That helps with feelings of guilt or shame tied to old stories and repetitive self-talk.She also draws on positive psychology techniques that focus on strengths, small experiments, and ways of shifting attention toward what supports better functioning. These methods can be useful for grief, self-esteem, and career-related decisions because they emphasize practical steps and brief exercises between sessions.
Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. Bella collaborates with each person to decide which practices to try based on goals and preferences, and she adjusts those choices as needs change.
The practical benefits of doing this work online are that therapy can fit more easily into a weekday or workday routine and sessions can be scheduled without extra travel time. Confirm current session options before booking so you know which formats are available for your circumstances.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Additional focus areas
Experience
6+ years
Listed in
California
Languages
English, Hebrew, Russian
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of guilt or shame does she help with?
She works with guilt and shame connected to grief, relationships, self-esteem, career decisions, and ADHD-related struggles.
How does she approach shame in sessions?
She pays attention to the language people use and how stories about themselves get repeated, using positive psychology ideas and Wake Dreaming to experiment with new ways of speaking about painful experiences.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has six years of experience as a clinician working with grief, attachment issues, and related concerns.
Where is she licensed and practicing?
She is an LMFT licensed in California and practices from that state.
Can I meet with her in a language other than English?
Sessions can be conducted in English, Hebrew, or Russian.
Does she work with clients outside the United States?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How are sessions paid for?
Cost varies with location; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
What do I do to begin working with her?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule your first session.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, use the crisis numbers.